The Cactus
by Hexagonce
Summary: This started as an English prompt and turned into Naruto, so yeah. One-shot, TobiramaxOC. Just a little secret meeting between two lovers.


The boundary between the Shinobi villages of Rain and Sand was a sight to see. The dusty sand portion wound around the foliage that threatened to overtake it from the forest half. From the air, this mesh of landscapes resembled a piece of paper on which someone had dumped a bucket of paint on. Even though this was the section of the desert with the most rainfall, it remained unpopulated by the greenery (and the people) of its opponent.

Well, mostly.

A lone, dirty green cactus stood tall, several feet from anything that shared its color. Sighing, it cast its hopes to the sky, wishing for nothing more than a bit of excitement. Spotting a rather large cloud, it waved a spiky arm in vain, hoping to grab its attention. When that didn't work, it simply yelled up.

"You there! Have you been to Konohagakure?"

"Yes, is there something I can do for you, sprout?" Fuming, it stuck out its tongue while the wind slowed, allowing the cloud to drift closer. It covered the cactus almost completely, creating a dense fog around it.

"I have a message for Lord Hokage, if you don't mind. As you can see, I can't move." It wriggled about to prove its point. The cloud laughed at this, but continued to listen.

"Oh well, some of us are luckier than others. I'm going to need the sender."

"That I don't know," the cactus shrugged. "I wasn't told. I was only given the message. I _do _know that the sender is a girl and is from the Hidden Sand village."

"Every little bit helps. The message?"

"The lady was wondering if Lord Hokage could meet her here, at the border. He is asked to come alone and at sunset."

"Like he'd ever fall for that! I've seen this 'Lord Hokage' in action before and believe me; he's smarter than he looks. But nevertheless, I will pass on your message under one condition." The wind picked up once more, sending the cloud into the sky.

"And what would that be!?" The cactus' words were becoming fainter as the wind howled about the white ball of fluff.

"Tell me what happens!" The cloud departed, leaving the cactus to wave it on its way.

And it sat there for three hours straight, as it has always done, waiting.

By the time the sun had cast the last of its glorious rays into the brightly colored sky, a figure began to approach on the horizon. The cactus, now woken from its rest, recognized it as the girl who had sent along the request.

Being quite short (and the cactus very tall), her head barely reached the top of the cactus. Short, blond hair framed her incredibly young face, reflecting what little sunlight was left. Her choice of clothing resembled that of an average Shinobi: multi-pocket vest, long sleeve shirt and pants, both black, and Shinobi sandals. She stood by the cactus briefly before hearing the other approach.

Silver hair stuck up in almost every direction above the Konoha headband. Three red triangles, one on each cheek and another on his chin, marked his face. He wore the classic armor of the era, shoulder, chest, and leg strips of blue, the latter resembling a pleated skirt. The black jacket he wore underneath was decorated with fur on the collar, as well on the bottom. The marking on his shoulder stated he was from the Senju clan.

'This is the legendary Hokage?!" the cactus thought to itself. 'He looks more like a drunkard than a village leader…' Walking out from the now present shadows, the girl revealed herself. The previous look of boredom on the man's face quickly changed to disbelief.

"You're not from Sunagakure."

"Never said I was," the girl replied smugly, "just wanted to talk."

"You see me three times a day. Why would you want to talk here?" Hesitating, she thought about this for a minute.

"You've seen the way the Senju and Uchiha clan members act around each other, especially when they see us together. I figured it would be nice to not have to bother with that for a day, Tobirama. You know, peacefully." She smiled, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. She sat on a soft patch of grass, motioning for him to sit beside her.

"I never thought it would bother you." Tobirama sat beside her, the cactus at their backs. "If it embarrasses you, I can always…"

"No, please," she held his arm firmly, "If you raise a fuss, the clans will fight. I…I like being together."

The next hour was spent talking. The cactus learned that the Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had been trying to bring the many clans in the surrounding areas together in one location, Konoha. This would make the wars that broke out sometimes nonexistent. The girl, Sayuri Uchiha, was part of an ambitious clan that had no intention of staying in Konoha, and even worse, their clans had been rivals for several years. This made meeting on friendly terms almost impossible.

When the Uchiha clan had learned Sayuri, the only female to have unlocked the family trait, Sharingan, had been training with a member of the Senju clan, they banned her from seeing him. This was the only way they could possibly talk to each other.

After another hour, the two left.

The next morning, on its rounds to the other villages, the cloud stopped briefly to meet the cactus.

"Ah, a hopeless love story. Oh well, life's gonna have its ups and downs."

"Wait, shouldn't we…I don't know, do something? Continue to push these secret meeting? I mean, you're a cloud; you can move freely. I'm a cactus. If this land goes to war, I'm toast!"

"I don't know. I'll think of something. If anything goes down, you tell me. You're like, the only thing I ever talk to besides the other clouds. I would hate to lose you. So long."


End file.
